California drivers are going to see a bump at the pump starting Jan. 1 – with a good chunk of the money going to kick-start Gov.Â Jerry Brown‘s struggling high-speed railÂ project. Reason: Starting next year, tailpipe emissions from cars and trucks will come under California’s cap-and-trade program, which is designed to reduce greenhouseÂ gases. The result will […]

Calling last year’s minimum wage hike a good first step, theÂ California SenateÂ approved a measure Thursday that would further lift the pay floor to $13 an hour byÂ 2017. The bill by Sen.Â Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, comes about a month before the state’s minimum wage is set to increase from $8 an hour to $9 in July […]

The economy performed worse than initially estimated amid severe winter weather in the first quarter, contracting for the first time in three years, the Commerce Department said Thursday. Wall Street shrugged off the news in early trading. The Commerce Department reported that the nation’s total economic output decreased at a 1% annual rate from January […]